24 nov

Syria has lashed out at Turkey’s “provocative” request to deploy NATO surface-to-air missiles on the countries’ shared border. The batteries may be installed in a matter of weeks, in a buildup that could further flare tensions in the turbulent zone.

Russian Ambassador in Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin reiterated his country’s support to dialogue in Syria as the only way for the political solution in Syria, asserting the necessity of implementing Geneva Statement which needs no other interpretation or additional phrases.
In an interview with the Lebanese As-Safir newspaper published on Saturday, the Russian Ambassador expressed Russia’s clear rejection of the so-called the ‘Syrian Coalition Opposition’, pointing out that it doesn’t represent the opposition because it encompasses another sides in it.

NATO’s potential deployment of the Patriot missile system in Turkey near the Syrian border is clearly meant for a larger scale intervention – and potentially to secure a no-fly zone, political activist Yazan Abdallah told RT.
Â­Furthermore, if the conflict escalates, it would be “a military intervention based on the humanitarian crisis.”RT: If the request is granted, is it the first step towards implementing a no-fly zone?Yazan Abdallah: It could well be a sign that there could well be some kind of limited intervention, especially that we’ve been hearing the EU countries – especially Britain and France – advocating such intervention recently, where they have been talking about limited scale intervention. However, how comprehensive and how an all-out war style this is going to be, I think this is not going to be a war style. It will be a war of attrition that is not going to threaten the Syrian government with sudden intervention. They know very well this is going to ignite a response from the Syrian side that may trigger a lot of chaos in the region.

The planned deployment by NATO countries of Patriot air defence systems on Turkey’s Syria border will actually amount to the imposition of a no-fly zone for Syrian aircraft in circumvention of the UN Security Council.
The opinion has been voiced by the leading research fellow of the Russian Institute for Oriental Studies, Vladimir Kudelev.
He feels that Patriot systems may drastically influence the fighting between the government troops and the opposition in the north of Syria, since the militants will thus get a 200 kilometre – to 250 kilometre-wide “umbrella” all along the Syrian-Turkish border.
The deployment of Patriots would also undermine the role of the UN Security Council, which, experts feel, would hardly authorize any proposal to impose a no-fly zone for Syrian aircraft.

The following report of Vesti.ru seems a little bit like the famous tale of the Gaulish village. At least for the region north of Aleppo, near the Turkish border.
Around 45,000 people are there almost cut off completely from the outside world, surrounded by a rebel-controlled area and they do not give up the resistance since a half year.
The humanitarian situation is catastrophic, but there is an air bridge to Aleppo, which, however, is far from sufficient in order to supply all the people there with all the necessities.
The report can also testify of it, that large parts of the country, at least in northern Syria, are no longer controlled by the government for quite some time. A few other elements of the report sound a bit strange, but overall, it is important enough, at least, to gain attention for the beleaguered people in northern Syria.